Postgraduate students are launching their end of year MA exhibition this September at our Church Street campus. This exhibition marks the end of a years academic research and study. Open to the public, this showcase will feature an array of work across our masters course’s soon to be graduates. The exhibition will launch with a Preview Night – Tuesday 5th September at 5pm to 7pm and will be open from Wednesday 6th  to Friday 8th September.

Read on to find out more about the featured artists and get a sneak peek of some of their work:

Lucy brown

Lucy is a highly motivated graphic designer who specialises in branding and visual identity. She enjoys using her skillset to bring brands to life, using strategy to create meaningful and impactful branding, bursting with personality. Lucy always considers the ethical nature of her work and strives to work on projects that will do good. She is a big believer in graphic design having the power to change the world and views branding as an opportunity to connect with consumers, shed light on important topics and offer solutions that improve people’s quality of life. Thrive is an app that aims to educate and support young adults navigating adult life in a cost of living crisis, offering relatable and engaging content, wrapped up in a vibrant brand identity.

Nichola Stott

Abstract fine artist inspired by symbolism and nature. Nichola’s work is an intuitive abstract expression of memories and experiences. These memories and experiences often depict first-hand impressions and views collected from travelling along the Northeast coastline. The use of both fluid and heavy body acrylics is combined to utilise both painting and staining techniques to incorporate aspects of realism into abstract landscapes. In addition, much of Nicholas’ work explores opposing styles using bold symbolic motifs, incorporating vivid colour palettes and bold textures to create more pop-art-inspired pieces.

Debbie Todd

Debbie Todd is exhibiting work from her current project ‘the call’. Debbie’s socially engaged photographic work details children who are on the organ transplant list, waiting for a replacement organ to become available. The project also covers other areas including post-transplant recipients, children who didn’t receive their organ and child organ donors. This project has been created to raise awareness around the subject of child organ donation and to encourage discussions not to influence decisions.

Callum Hayes

Callum is a versatile Ma Graphic Designer hailing from the northeast of England, specialising in branding, motion graphics, and 3D design. With expertise in Digital Design, Motion Graphics, and 3D Design, he brings a creative approach to every project. His passion for design fuels his ability to think outside the box, constantly pushing boundaries and delivering exceptional results. With a strong foundation in graphic design and a keen eye for detail.

This brief outline the development of an AR book gallery showcasing the evolution of digital art and design styles. It targets art enthusiasts, design professionals, and students, aiming to educate and inspire a diverse audience through engaging content and immersive experiences. Market research, identifying the design problem, and setting objectives ensure a user-friendly interface and seamless AR integration. The gallery features interactive visual representations, historical context, and educational resources, offering a captivating exploration of digital creativity.

Rebecca Jones

Rebecca Jones is a detail oriented graphic designer, who combines both digital and illustrative methods within her work and possesses a specific passion for creating bold and unique brands, that have a highly illustrative feel, Rebecca specialises in branding and visual identity. Her portfolio demonstrates her passion for creating positive social changes as well as her desire to help small businesses to succeed. Rebecca is also proficient in prototyping digital platforms and has a specific interest using digital media platforms to create positive societal changes. Rebecca’s project Friendly Faces explores ideas around how to effectively assist people living with learning difficulties to find full term employment and gain a sense of independence. This project also allows it’s audience to not only connect with people with similar interests as them, as making these connections will help them feel less alone and cut off from the social norms but also allow them to gain some level of independence through the job they choose to do.

Studio Yip!

Studio Yip! is an artist duo who specialise in children’s illustration and murals. Their style is distinct in their use of varied shapes and vibrant colour palettes. Diversity and inclusivity are key focuses in their work, both in their character designs and through striving for accessibility in their illustrations. Yip! believes it is paramount to showcase a diverse range of sexualities, genders, races, disabilities, and ages to create a sense of community and belonging via their work. Growing up in the North, Yip! incorporates their Northern identities and experiences into their narratives frequently. Most importantly, Studio Yip! strives for its work to be fun and welcoming to all.

Kim Bainbridge

Kim is an international award-winning photographer. Two times in a row, she has won first and third place in the “Food Photographer of the Year” awards and has been published in several magazines. She is a still-life photographer who divides her time between Fine-Art and Commercial advertisement and is highly dedicated to both. Kim loves the outdoors and nature but is just as content in a photo studio trying to make the perfect picture. Kim’s intention is to show an ordinary object in an extraordinary way that tells a story and brings a little bit of magic back to life. In addition to still images, Kim also creates stop-motion short films.

Jade Robinson

Jade Robinson is a passionate hard-working very motivated young woman who is excited to show the history of photography of Hartlepool of different textures and patterns that I want to install in my project looking at the history of Hartlepool there’s so much to talk about and to understand and that’s what I wanted to sure but I wanted it to be in a creative passion of way which is why fabric textiles and sewing into each image is definitely something that I think will benefit my work it will add a colour and that is all that really matters to the outlook of my project. Which will prepare me for my future Interests are to continue another year at university to achieve my teacher training qualification and to be able to teach the next generation of photographers artists but I guess the biggest part of my future that I’m looking forward to is helping that child that was like me scared and anxious and felt quite alone in school due to the learning difficulties I want to be a guiding force for them to know that the label doesn’t describe who you are you do and if you work hard enough you’ll achieve everything you’ve put your mind to.

Emma Wilkinson

Emma Wilkinson is a designer that specialises in a variety of different area’s when it comes to designing. Emma’s main specialised practice is branding and marketing resulting in working with a range of clients to bring their marketing ideas to light. Besides working with marketing, she also likes to work with type and creating things that’s different and new keeping her inspiration and motivation at the focus. Emma’s current work is very heavily based on creating designs and layouts for current brief which is also heavily inspired by the climate crisis, and this is very much portrayed in her work and through her social media posts where she shares most her of design work.

Lily Marshall

LR Marshall, also known as Miss Moon Illustration on social media, is a versatile illustrator focused within publishing and character concept art. Her style can be characterised by vibrant colours and stylised characters, drawing inspiration from a fusion of Japanese manga and Western comic books, brought together with a digitally painted aesthetic that includes minimal to no line art.

Throughout her illustrious career, Marshall has achieved noteworthy milestones. Collaborating with author Dorian N. Bridges, she crafted the cover for his compelling non-fictional novel, ‘Millennium Gothic: The Nostalgia Project Vol 1.’ Recently, she has ventured into the realm of children’s publishing, with ambitious plans to independently release her latest project, ‘Special Something,’ being published online.

Fi McClurg

Fi McClurg is a documentary photographer who began her career as a purely two-dimensional artist with an interest in architectural subjects. As she progressed she began to experiment with producing images in both two and three dimensions using both traditional photographic techniques and the emerging technology of photogrammetry to fulfil the multiple experiences of the human eye. Fi created a body of work that represents the full experience of the viewer and utilises Virtual and Augmented Reality to show her work alongside video and still image.

Fi’s current project explores the legacy of World War One ruins on the North-East coast. Fi focuses her research and practice on aftermath photography, with a specific interest in using her skills with digital and physical three-dimensional outcomes to map the effects of conflict and natural disaster on both the environment and humanity, while continuing her commercial work with clients.

Ellie Bartlett

Ellie Bartlett is an illustrator focused on character design and narrative world building for children’s picture books. Using digital methods, she loves using textured brushes on her iPad to gradually build up pieces from very messy thumbnails and likes experimenting with dynamic lighting to push narratives. Ellie is inspired by nature, animals, and the mundane aspects of everyday life, incorporating things like small insects or bigger animals within her sketches. Her recent picture book project, ‘Sam and his Spirit Animal’ tells the story of Sam, attending a magical new school, where all the children are given their own unique spirit animal. All seems well, until Sam meets Mouse, and he’s not happy!

Instagram – @Elandraeuk

Jade Agar

Jade agar is a digital illustrator who works predominantly in narrative using digital programmes like procreate and illustrator. She is motivated by the horror and fantasy genre as well as the young adult genre within books, due to the visual imagery and context, within whether that be through book, movies or series. There are things she enjoys in everyday life. She enjoys book illustration predominantly as it allows her to visually illustrate what the imagination shows and does when people read books. Learning new skills and techniques as she goes. With this in mind, her future intentions are to eventually work in book illustration or book publishing.

Erin Sunderland

Erin Sunderland, also known as Wimpiii Graphics, is a talented graphic designer and image maker based in the North East. Since starting her education Erin has created a variety of projects based around collage, typography, branding and image making. Throughout her studies, many of Erin’s projects have focused around on feminism, equality and female empowerment, especially surrounding the music industry and highlighting the work of women in music; this is shown in Erin’s most recent project for her Master’s degree entitled ‘Pure Love Festival’. In this project, Erin showcases her work as a graphic designer and image maker by combining her skills in branding, typography and collage based image making to create the concept for an all female music festival which highlights a range of talented women in music, and fights the statistics and opinions surrounding the work of women in music.

Mia Angioy

Mia Angioy is an interdisciplinary graphic designer and image maker specialising in both analogue and digital techniques. Taking inspiration from the world around her, she enjoys incorporating popular culture and social issues into her work to create meaningful and relevant artworks. Experimentation is at the core of her creative practice, and she believes this is key to creating impactful artwork. Leaning towards collage as a creative outlet for

image making, she enjoys the process of creating a new artwork from something old, creating a new world with endless possibilities, drawing inspiration from art movements such as Dadaism and Surrealism. Mia’s style is typically characterised by her use of handmade textures, analogue and digital, as well vintage imagery and an assortment of shape and colour throughout each piece.

Chloe Smith

Chloe Smith explores print techniques combined with digital and traditional methods to create her work. Her current project has produced abstract designs reacting to feminist issues in the UK and globally, with the main aim to represent important data, bringing much-needed attention to highlight it. After researching feminist topics and issues, this data and information was converted and represented by the visual elements of the designs including, the colour palette and ratio of colours used, symbols and shapes.

Abstract art and designs are often overlooked due to the nature of their aesthetic and the thought of it being easy to make, instead, the true focus is on the process taken to produce the outcome and the underlying causes for the elements within the piece. This also has a strong and important link to feminism as women and minority groups are also often overlooked in society and are considered second-class citizens globally.

Grace Ede

Grace Ede is a freelance photographer who integrates nature into her photographic work. With a passion for both nature and portraiture, Grace specialises in “well-being photography.” Her method combines nature exposure theory, forest bathing, and women’s empowerment to promote well-being, positivity, and self-care in her clients. Grace’s approach helps her clients feel more confident and connected to nature, fostering a sense of happiness and peace. Within her practice, she finds inspiration in the immersive experience and uses her work to create engaging sessions and art pieces that evoke these positive feelings. Above all, Grace aims to use her craft to educate others about the many benefits of nature and promote its use as a force for good.

Melissa Mullaney

Melissa Mullaney is a graphic designer who is currently studying an MA in design practice to refine her skills and master her practice before moving into the creative industry. Melissa specialises in tackling current world problems to educate her audience to make a change. Wanting to take her skills to the next level in typography, in this project she is underpinning several problems which needs speaking about today, creating zines and posters covering poverty, feminism and climate change. Hoping to combat the issue and educate her audience to at least understand the issue if not make a small change in their life.

Kieran Nixon

Kieran Nixon, also known as Studionixon, is a detail oriented graphic designer with a flair for all things digital design. Specializing more within Branding, Advertising, and editorial mediums, Kieran’s work emanates boldness and uniqueness, capturing audiences and leaving an everlasting impact. His ever-growing passion for minimalism and simplicity shines through his designs, creating engaging experiences for all clients. Driven by a desire to bring ideas to life, he aspires to assist countless individuals in transforming their concepts from paper to reality through the powerful medium of graphics.

Instagram: @_studionixon

Owen Scott

Amongst all of the Graphic Designers out there, Fate has decided for our paths to intertwine so may as well tell you the story of who Owen Scott is, Owen is a versatile Graphic Designer. To give further context, Owen likes to learn and develop new skills and integrate them into designs and processes already understood to learn further. As a means to show this context, Owen’s most recent work, ‘Zenith.’. This piece is made to display Owen’s new passion for editorial design showcasing his life throughout the last few months of the Master’s degree as well as transitioning into the “real” world.

Instagram: @odsilver

Jane Spink

Jane specialises in fine art as a durational artist, capturing landscapes across the North East of England recording changes in colour and light across a period of time within one day from dawn to dusk. Using colour and light as a narrative Jane has recently painted a collection of 12 paintings to record the winter solstice at Roseberry Topping. Creating a piece of work every hour between 6am and 6pm and the summer solstice at Durham Cathedral between 3am and 10pm. Jane uses vibrant colour in her work to showcase the beauty of the North East of England.

Nadene Micklewright

Nadene is a multimedia artist and painter based in Middlesbrough. Her work communicates a narrative driven by theoretical and contextual underpinning, inspired by colour, shape and composition. Her work aims to provide viewers with a new academic perspective on the new wave of trends and lifestyle inspired by the Y2K movement made popular by figures such as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Her work also aims to highlight today’s trends, the 2020s, expressed through music, fashion and trends made popular again; conveying a nostalgic memory reminiscent of the 2000s. Her work draws inspiration from artists such as Molly Soda and Rachael MacClean and musicians such as Slayyyter, Kim Petras and Peach PRC.

Interested in taking your studies to the next level post degree? Look no further! We offer a rang of creative postgraduate courses that allow students to expand their practice and research. Find out more about MA Arts Practice, MA Design Practice, MA Directing & Theatre Making and Design History here.